If last year is any indication, Canadians are more eager than ever to visit England’s castles, Scotland’s distilleries and Wales’ stunning scenery. Canadian visitors spent £934 million pounds in the United Kingdom in 2022, a 27% jump over 2019, on about 897,000 visits. Tourism officials forecast spend to surpass £1 billion pounds this year.
“Canadians, more than anyone else, want to explore pretty much every part of the United Kingdom,” VisitBritain Chairman Nick de Bois CBE told Open Jaw in an interview during the two-day Destination Britain North America 2023 (DBNA). Canada is a priority for VisitBritain with Canada now ranking 7th in spend and 9th for volume, he added.
During the high-energy conference, about 120 destination and supplier representatives met with top buyers from across North America and held more than 2,350 business meetings while mingling over social events. Buyers learned about new offerings, products and trends from organizations such as VisitScotland, VisitWales, VisitCambridge and VisitDevon, growing their knowledge of Britain as a visitor destination to drive sales.
Underscoring VisitBritain’s focus on Canada and the importance of working with the travel trade, the Canada team will be hosting four trade workshops in Ontario starting November 13 in Kingston, Ajax, Barrie and London. Agents will be able to learn what’s new in country, especially if they haven’t had a chance to visit since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
And based on Open Jaw’s experience at DBNA, there is a quite a lot to learn.
VisitBritain’s new chairman blends can-do optimism with strategy
A former Member of Parliament and founder of an exhibition company, de Bois throughout DBNA hammered away at this message: With North American tourism being Britain’s most important source, he aims to help the industry “smash” visitation and spend records.
While it’s great that the “eyes of the world” were on the nation last year with the coronation of King Charles III, de Bois stressed that VisitBritain can’t rest on its laurels. His key priorities involve data, in-country influence and regional growth. In an interview with Open Jaw, de Bois described a plan to drive robust growth by reimagining VisitBritain as a nimble, data-driven organization, and by elevating the influence of travel and tourism inside the United Kingdom to drive more favorable policies. He also sees an opportunity to bring more tourism to other parts of the nation beyond London and extend visitation beyond the summer season.
“The mission is simply to drive a thriving tourism industry right across Britain. That’s our job, let me be blunt. We can’t succeed at that without working with you our partners to draw our sales,” de Bois told attendees.
Describing VisitBritain as ”more than a marketing organization,” he positioned the organization as one that can help Canadian travel agents drive sales in these uncertain times with greater access to the people, data, resources, training and product information that they need to serve their customers.
Addressing challenges head on
De Bois acknowledges challenges, such as the cost of travel, concerns about climate change and concerns about inconsistent weather given this past summer’s deadly heat wave.
As for cost, he says that VisitBritain will aggressively make the case in England for favorable policies such as less taxation. Some travellers are addressing the cost issue themselves, he said, by staying longer to get more value for the money or exploring destinations that cost less than London. In fact, several destination groups at DBNA positioned their destination as cost effective.
The Shakespeare’s England, the destination management organization that represents South Warwickshire and the surrounding area including Stratford-upon-Avon, for instance, boasts a location for exploration and relaxation that’s just 1.5 hours by train to London and has lodging and food prices that cost a fraction of what they are in London. “We are seeing an increase in the overnight stay,” business development manager Vicki Zamudio told Open Jaw. “We want to get to a two-night-stay – there’s a lot to do and see.” Once there, visitors can immerse themselves in historic Shakespeare’s birthplace, see iconic Studley Castle in Warwickshire, take a cruise on the Avon, stay at the new Arden Hotel and enjoy unique experiences such as taking a gin tasting class at the Shakespeare Distillery located in what once was Shakespeare’s daughter’s actual home.
The organization emphasized its goal to unlock untapped, lucrative markets, such as the accessible travel market. De Bois sees it as “not only the right thing to do but also a huge opportunity for our sector,” citing properties that have not only lodging but also programming for people with across abilities.
By unlocking untapped markets, British tourism officials hope to guard against its main challenges – cost and climate. Asked if he thinks that summer’s deadly heat and wildfires around the world may impact travelers’ decisions about crossing the Atlantic next summer, de Bois acknowledge he believes it will be a factor.
What’s drawing visitors? Experiences, old and new
When thinking about the United Kingdom, many agents might think about the nation’s storied castles and cathedrals, iconic museums, Michelin-starred restaurants and West End theaters in London, along with all things royal.
And, yes, London sells itself, thanks to its over 2,000 years of history, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, 850 galleries, famous shopping districts and more than 71 Michel-starred restaurants.
But in San Francisco, buyers learned about an array of attractions, services, itineraries and products in and beyond London that might surprise agents who haven’t visited since before the Covid pandemic.
Based on interviews with more than 15 tourism representatives from across the U.K., the region boasts emerging distillery and foodie hotspots, high-tech attractions, new entertainment venues, new luxury experiences and much more.
Film and TV
Move over Downton Abbey, which prompted tourists to flock to sites such as Hampshire’s Highclere Castle. The “Bridgeton effect” is in full force, with season three set to hit Netflix this fall. The series – filmed in Bath -- is motivating visitors from Canada and elsewhere to experience the settings of their favorite movies and hit TV series in real life.
In fact, a study shows that about a third of potential United Kingdom visitors are keen to visit destinations they’ve seen on screens throughout the year, according to de Bois. Agents can expect this theme to pop up in future VisitBritain marketing.
“If you see something beautiful on TV 10 weeks running, it’s going to influence your decision making,” de Bois said. “The data is there.”
New product is on its way, too, such as the 5-star, 75-room Hotel Gotham in Bristol slated to open in late 2024, with a restaurant, spa and rooftop terrace.
The drama Outlander, which features Scottish sites such as the medieval Doune Castle, is popular in Canada and driving a lot of interest. And with the upcoming Masters of the Air, the American war drama for Apple TV starring Tom Hanks, Cambridge expects a tourism bump.
And according to VisitWales, the sports document series Welcome to Wrexham is driving a lot of inquiries about visiting, helping the town build itself up as a tourist destination. The acclaimed series, which premiered in August 2022, chronicles the Welsh football club Wrexham A.F.C., as told by the club's owners, including Canadian-American actor Ryan Reynolds.
Heritage and history
With about 5 million Canadians claiming Scottish ancestry, VisitScotland official Laura Kirk said that Scotland is seeing Canadian visits and spend rise.
“Canadians love Scottish history, heritage, landscape and food and drink,” she said. The two-year-old Johnnie Walker Princes Street in the heart of Edinburgh city center’s West End, for instance, has become a major tourist attraction.
Visitors can take a 90-minute tour where they learn about the origins of the brand while sipping a high ball or old fashioned cocktail. “It’s popular with Canadians who are visiting and exploring their roots on a heritage trip,” Kirk told Open Jaw.
The Devon region is preparing a host of activities to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, since it was the location of where troops conducted their training. “The beaches were like Normandy. 10,000 troops lived in Devon for a whole year. You can still see the dance halls and the food halls,” said VisitDevon director Sally Everton. “The travel agents would love the itineraries – they will be easy to sell because their emotional.” She recommends booking by October because lodging typically sells out a year in advance.
In Greenwich, tourists love trekking to the Royal Greenwich Observatory -- founded by King Charles II as an astronomical and navigational institution to aid sea navigation – to take pictures of themselves standing over the Meridian line. In 2025, the observatory will mark its 250th anniversary.
Unique experiences
Want to climb on top of high-profile London venues or float along rivers seeing Roman walls? No problem.
Since the pandemic, operators have rolled out countless new experiences to please everyone. The O2, which is United Kingdom’s biggest entertainment venue, is now offering adventure seekers the chance to climb over its roof – with sunset tours especially enticing.
In York in Northern England, City Cruises recently launched a seasonal, 90-minute fish-and-chips cruise. Passengers can enjoy their chips and mushy peas while coasting along the River Ouse, historic York, the scenic countryside and Roman walls.
Nature
With the theme See Wales Differently, VisitWales leans on its access to nature, wildlife and a well-known venue where visitors can learn about sustainability. There are no direct flights from Canada, so visitors must either land at a London airport or in Dublin, and then take a train or ferry. One highlight is the world-renowned eco center called the Centre For Alternative Technology located on a one-time slate quarry in the UNESCO Dyfi Biosphere in Mid Wales. Visitors will find trails of varying length where they can soak up panoramic views of scenic Snowdonia National Park, along with organic gardens, experimental sustainable buildings, sustainably managed woodlands, and working examples of renewable energy.
The arts
Poised to celebrate its 200th anniversary next year, the National Gallery has been welcoming arts lovers in entirely new ways in the last two years. For those who can pay 2,500 pounds or more, visitors can arrive before or after the masses when all the galleries are empty (9-10am or 6-7pm). And National Gallery’s Clare Arouche says they’ve also launched two-hour sketching workshops for private groups where people can go from gallery to gallery with a sketch pad, portable chair and an art historian.
Next year marks the 60th anniversary of Beatlemania, giving fans a great excuse to visit Liverpool, where the band got its start and visit The Beatles Story attraction for one or two hours. “Our biggest market are Americans and Canadians,” marketing manager Diane Glover told Open Jaw. “They love the Beatles.”
